Lap Food Tray Assembly

ABSTRACT

A lap food tray assembly for supporting a dinner plate on a user&#39;s lap includes a saucer that has a dinner plate indentation integrated into the saucer. A dinner plate can be positioned in the dinner plate indentation. A cushion is coupled to the saucer such that the cushion can be positioned on a user&#39;s lap when the user is seated. In this way the saucer is oriented in a preferred orientation to facilitate the user to eat from the dinner plate when the dinner plate is positioned in the dinner plate indentation. The cushion is comprised of a deformable material to conform to the shape of the user&#39;s lap thereby facilitating the saucer to be positioned in a horizontal orientation.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

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STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

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THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT

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INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC OR AS A TEXT FILE VIA THE OFFICE ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM

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STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR JOINT INVENTOR

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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION (1) Field of the Invention

The disclosure relates to food tray devices and more particularly pertains to a new food tray device for supporting a dinner plate on a user's lap. The device includes a saucer with a dinner plate indentation and a cushion that is attached to the saucer. The cushion conforms to the contours of a user's lap when the cushion is positioned on the user's lap. In this way saucer can support a dinner plate to facilitate the dinner plate to be retained in a horizontal orientation on the user's lap.

(2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98

The prior art relates to food tray devices including a variety of lap tray devices which each has a bean bag attached to a bottom side of a lap tray. The prior art discloses a tray that includes a bean bag for positioning the tray on a lap and a cup holder that is removably integrated into the tray. The prior discloses a variety shapeable support stands for an electronic device which each comprises a deformable cushion. The prior art discloses a foam wedge and a bean bag attached to the foam wedge for supporting the foam wedge on a user's lap.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a saucer that has a dinner plate indentation integrated into the saucer. A dinner plate can be positioned in the dinner plate indentation. A cushion is coupled to the saucer such that the cushion can be positioned on a user's lap when the user is seated. In this way the saucer is oriented in a preferred orientation to facilitate the user to eat from the dinner plate when the dinner plate is positioned in the dinner plate indentation. The cushion is comprised of a deformable material to conform to the shape of the user's lap thereby facilitating the saucer to be positioned in a horizontal orientation.

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.

The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of a lap food tray assembly according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a front exploded view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a bottom phantom view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 1 of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a perspective in-use view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to FIGS. 1 through 5 thereof, a new food tray device embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral 10 will be described.

As best illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 5 , the lap food tray assembly 10 generally comprises a saucer 12 that has a dinner plate indentation 14 integrated into the saucer 12. In this way a dinner plate 16 can be positioned in the dinner plate indentation 14. The saucer 12 has a lower wall 18 and an outer wall 20 extending upwardly from a perimeter 22 of the lower wall 18, and the outer wall 20 has a distal edge 24 with respect to the lower wall 18 defining the dinner plate indentation 14. The lower wall 18 has a lower surface 26 and an upper surface 28. In this way the upper surface 28 can have the dinner plate 16 positioned on the upper surface 28 such that the outer wall 20 inhibits the dinner plate 16 from sliding off of the upper surface 28.

A cushion 30 is coupled to the saucer 12 and the cushion 30 can be positioned on a user's lap 32 when the user 34 is seated. In this way the saucer 12 is oriented in a preferred orientation to facilitate the user 34 to eat from the dinner plate 16 when the dinner plate 16 is positioned in the dinner plate indentation 14. Thus, the user 34 does not have to conscientiously balance the dinner plate 16 on their lap 32 while they eat from the dinner plate 16. The cushion 30 is comprised of a deformable material to conform to the shape of the user's lap 32 thereby facilitating the saucer 12 to be positioned in a horizontal orientation. As is most clearly shown in FIG. 4 , the cushion 30 may be filled with a granular material in the convention of a bean bag or the like.

The cushion 30 has an outside wall 36 and the outside wall 36 is bonded to the lower surface 26 of the lower wall 18 of the saucer 12. Furthermore, the cushion 30 has a circumference that is greater than the circumference of the saucer 12. Thus, the cushion 30 extends outwardly beyond the outer wall 20 of the saucer 12. In this way the cushion 30 can enhance stability of the saucer 12 when the cushion 30 is positioned on the user's lap 32.

In use, the cushion 30 is positioned on the user's lap 32 when the user 34 is seated. In this way the cushion 30 conforms to the contours of the user's lap 32 such that the saucer 12 can be retained in a horizontal orientation. Furthermore, the dinner plate 16 is retained in a horizontal orientation when the dinner plate 16 is positioned in the dinner plate indentation 14. Thus, the user 34 can eat from the dinner plate 16 without having to conscientiously balance the dinner plate 16 on their lap 32. The cushion 30 can be positioned on any uneven surface thereby facilitating the sauce to be retained in a horizontal orientation for eating in a variety of locations.

With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.

Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements. 

1. A lap food tray assembly for supporting a dinner plate on a user's lap, said assembly comprising: a saucer having a dinner plate indentation being integrated into said saucer wherein said dinner plate indentation is configured to have a dinner plate positioned in said dinner plate indentation; and a cushion being coupled to said saucer wherein said cushion is configured to positioned on a user's lap when the user is seated thereby orienting said saucer in a preferred orientation to facilitate the user to eat from the dinner plate when the dinner plate is positioned in said dinner plate indentation, said cushion being comprised of a deformable material wherein said cushion is configured to conform to the shape of the user's lap thereby facilitating said saucer to be positioned in a horizontal orientation, said cushion having an outside wall defining an interior space and a granular material, said granular material being packed into and entirely tilling said interior space.
 2. The assembly according to claim 1, wherein: said saucer has a lower wall and an outer wall extending upwardly from a perimeter of said lower wall, said outer wall having a distal edge with respect to said lower wall defining said dinner plate indentation, said lower wall having a lower surface and an upper surface wherein said upper surface is configured to have the dinner plate positioned on said upper surface such that said outer wall inhibits the dinner plate from sliding off of said upper surface said outside wall is bonded to said lower surface of said lower wall of said saucer.
 3. The assembly according to claim 1, wherein said cushion has a circumference being greater than a circumference of said saucer such that said cushion extends outwardly beyond an outer wall of said saucer wherein said cushion is configured to enhance stability of said saucer when said cushion is positioned on the user's lap.
 4. A lap food tray assembly for supporting a dinner plate on a user's lap, said assembly comprising: a saucer having a dinner plate indentation being integrated into said saucer Wherein said dinner plate indentation is configured to have a dinner plate positioned in said dinner plate indentation, said saucer having a lower wall and an outer wall extending upwardly from a perimeter of said lower wall, said outer wall having a distal edge with respect to said lower wall defining said dinner plate indentation, said lower wall having a lower surface and an upper surface wherein said upper surface is configured to have the dinner plate positioned on said upper surface such that said outer wall inhibits the dinner plate from sliding off of said upper surface; and a cushion being coupled to said saucer wherein said cushion is configured to positioned on a user's lap when the user is seated thereby orienting said saucer in a preferred orientation to facilitate the user to eat from the dinner plate when the dinner plate is positioned in said dinner plate indentation, said cushion being comprised of a deformable material wherein said cushion is configured to conform to the shape of the user's lap thereby facilitating said saucer to be positioned in a horizontal orientation, said cushion having an outside wall defining an interior space and a granular material, said granular material being packed into and entirely tilling said interior space, said outside wall being bonded to said lower surface of said lower wall of said saucer, said cushion having a circumference being greater than a circumference of said saucer such that said cushion extends outwardly beyond said outer wall of said saucer wherein said cushion is configured to enhance stability of said saucer when said cushion is positioned on the user's lap.
 5. A method of stabilizing a dinner plate on a user's lap, the steps of the method comprising: providing a saucer having a dinner plate indentation, said saucer having a bottom side; providing a cushion being comprised of a deformable material; attaching said cushion to said bottom side of said saucer; positioning said cushion on a user's lap such that said cushion conforms to contours of the user's lap for retaining said saucer in a horizontal orientation; and positioning a dinner plate in said dinner plate indentation such that said saucer retains the dinner plate in a horizontal orientation to facilitate the user to eat from the dinner plate. 